Sarah Darer Littman: War on women expands to kids

Just in case you weren't totally convinced that there's a War on Women in the United States, state reps from around the country are working hard to turn you into a believer.

Take Georgia state Rep. Terry England. Earlier this month, England spoke during a debate on Georgia HB954, the so-called "fetal pain" bill, which would tighten medical exemptions for terminating pregnancies and require that any termination performed after 20 weeks be done in a way that tries to bring the fetus out alive -- even if the fetus isn't expected to live and it isn't the doctor's recommendation. In fact, under the Republican-proposed bill, doctors could face felony charges and up to 10 years in prison. But hey, that England knows more than those snobby elitist doctors with their fancy schmancy medical degrees. He's a farmer.

"Life gives us many experiences," Rep. England explained. "I've had the experience of delivering calves, dead and alive -- delivering pigs, dead and alive. ... It breaks our hearts to see those animals not make it."

And your point is ... what? That a pregnant woman is no different than a prize heifer? I farmed for 10 years and I've borne two children and lost one, which makes me a heckuva lot more qualified than you to talk about this, bucko. You have absolutely no business legislating what goes on between a woman and her obstetrician. None.

Clearly, Grothman is an expert on both marriage and parenting, having never been married or had children. He complains about the epidemic of single parenthood, and whose fault is that? "There's been a huge change over the last 30 years, and a lot of that change has been the choice of the women," Grothman opined.

Not wanting to be upstaged, his co-sponsor Pridemore told Wisconsin station Today TMJ4 that women should stay married, even in abusive situations. --If they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help," he said.

His "logic" -- and I use the word extremely loosely here -- is that fathers are usually the disciplinarians and without them, "kids tend to go astray."

This single mother would like to give Rep. Pridemore a few examples of her discipline, for exhibiting such blatant and dangerous stupidity whilst in public office. His "advice" could cost lives.

On average, more than three women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States, according to Department of Justice statistics. The ones who are lucky enough to stay alive suffer even after they get out. Women who have experienced domestic violence are 80 percent more likely to have a stroke, 70 percent more likely to have heart disease, 60 percent more likely to have asthma and 70 percent more likely to drink heavily than women who have not experienced intimate partner violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Clearly these guys don't care about women. But think of the children! 15.5 million children in the United States live in families in which partner violence occurred at least once in the past year, and seven million children live in families in which severe partner violence occurred, according to a study first published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Pridemore's idea of "strong discipline" puts such kids at greater risk for anxiety and depression. They are more likely to have poor performance at school and difficulty in relationships with others. Just what we want for our kids, right?